The present invention relates to the field of multi-media recording and playback. More specifically, the present invention relates to multi-device distributed digital video recording systems and methods.
Current digital video recorder (DVR) and personal versatile recorder (PVR) systems are limited by the number of tuners and the amount of storage space present on the PVR/DVR device. These limitations impede the user's ability to simultaneously record multiple programs and pause and fast-forward live television programming. The amount of storage space limits the number of programs that the user may save to his/her device.
Further, current DVR systems lack the ability to add new tuners once the hardware is delivered to the consumer. The hard disk drives are also limited in size to what is installed in the device at manufacture.
It would be advantageous to provide a digital video recording system that is not limited by the number of tuners or amount of storage physically present at the recording device.
The methods and apparatus of the present invention provide the foregoing and other advantages.